Gaokao Essay

Every year, 9 million students all over China take a single test, the gaoko, over the course of several days.  This test determines where the students go to college, eventually their life, and the success of their teachers.  In preparation for the test, many high schools become places of cram memorization and strict punishments.  The gaokao is unreasonable because it puts so much pressure on students and teachers.

One reason the tests are unfair is that it turns schools into sole test preparation.  School's go to extreme measures to keep up their student's good grades.  The article, "China's Cram Schools, by Brook Larmer, states that, "Critics say it stifles creativity and puts excessive pressure on students.  Teenage suicide rates tend to rise as the gaokao nears.  Two years ago, a student posted a shocking photograph online: a classroom full of students all hooked up to intravenous drips to give them the strength to keep studying."  Schools focus more on protecting their reputation than an educating, stimulating environment.  By having the gaokao be worth so much in terms of a teacher's success it affects their goals in helping the students.  The article states that, "teachers dole out lessons, and frequently punishments, with military rigor; their jjob security and bonuses depend on raising their students' test scores."  Teachers loose sight of working towards their students improvement when they are constantly trying to help their selves.  The gaokao causes schools and teachers to have the wrong intentions as educators.

Another reason the tests aren't justified is that the test determines whether they become successful or a manual laborer.  Many of the students in the "cram schools," have parents who hope for their children's lives to be better than theirs were.  The article states that, "The rent on their tiny room was high, rivaling rates in downtown Beijing, and it represented only part of the sacrifice Yang's parents made to help him become the first in his family to attend college.  Yang's father is a peach farmer in a village 45 minutes away; his mother quit her garment-factory job to support Yang in his final year of cramming."  Parents risk everything in hope of their children doing well on the gaokao.  Also, the students fear a life of poverty and manual work if they fail the gaokao.  The article states that, "The boys knew that manual labor would be their fate too, if they failed to do well on the gaokao.  Yang and Cao would have to join the ranks of China's 260 million migrant workers, who have left their homes in rural China in search of construction or factory jobs in the nation's booming coastal cities."  After all of their preparation, the boys either get into a school that will put them on the right track for a life of education and hopefully prosperity or they will end up as factory or construction workers.  A single test that occurs once a year determines the life of the 9 million student that take it every year.

In China, millions of people are affected by the gaokao every year.  Unlike the ACT and SAT, which offer chances for make ups and redoing it, with opportunity's for economic success  despite failure on the test, the gaokao is the sole determiner of success.  Because of the pressure on it the gaokao leads to uncreative schools and stressed students hoping to live up to their parents expectations.

Martín Espada Essay

In Martín Espada's poems, "The New Bathroom Policy at English High School," "Revolutionary Spanish Lesson," and "Tw Mexicanos Lynched in Santa Cruz, California, May 3, 1877," all explore ideas of racism in the United States.  The first shows the discomfort of a principal, the second shows the anger of the speaker at his name's mispronunciation, and the final is the story of a lynch mob "executing" two Mexicanos.  All three poems involve discomfort and often the transfer of it.

"The New Bathroom Policy," tells the story of a principal who bans spanish in the bathroom because of his  discomfort.  The principal fells that he must know what all of the kids are saying in order to fell in control.  the poem states that, "The only word he recognizes/ is his own name/ and this constipates him/ So he decides/ to ban Spanish/ from the bathrooms/ Now he can relax."  The principal is uncomfortable in the bathroom but by taking away the use of Spanish in the bathrooms, he isn't allowing students to speak their first language with their peers.  Also, in reading this poem, the use of the word, "constipates," makes the reader feel discomfort, bringing them into the setting of the tension in the bathroom.  While the principal believes he is justified by making himself more at ease, his students are forced to speak a language that they may not know well or speak fluently, causing a sense of alienation in them.

In "Revolutionary Spanish Lesson" the speaker transfers his annoyance of the mispronunciation of his name to people who he sees as racist and don't make an effort to assimilate.  In the poem the speaker fantasizes going out of his way to make others uncomfortable by personifying their view of Latino men.  The speaker imagines going to, "put on dark eye glasses/ push my beret at an angle/ comb my beard to a point."  The speaker feels that he should represent the stereotype of how racists perceive latino men.  Another way the speaker fantasizes about bring discomfort on the racists is by forcing, "them to chant/ anti-American slogans/ in spanish" The people he imagines doing this to consider themselves patriots and the representation of a true, "American" but being put in a position of being forced to speak an unknown language is similar to immigrant children in America schools.

In "Two Mexicanos," the speaker feels uncomfortable looking at a photograph of people crowding into a photograph after a lynching.  Thee poem expresses how the speaker looking at the picture is most disgusted by the fact that all of the lynchers are trying to get in the photo after their actions.  The first three stanzas are spent, "more than," one sad part of the picture, but the  last stanza explains how the part that makes the speaker most uneasy is how the lynchers are, "all/ crowding into the photograph."  Discomfort is also shown by some people in the photo graph.   the poem states that in the lynching party, there were, "a few stunned/ in the blur of execution," showing how after lynching two men, some feel possible remorse, or don't want to be captured into a photo.  In this poem the discomfort is mainly felt by the speaker, who is disturbed by the photo.

In his poems, Martín Espada, uses the ideas of discomfort to show the feelings of people both latino, and conservative, predominately white.  Often times, in order to regain power and a sense of ease, someone who feels threatened tries to put others in discomfort.  The principal takes away the comfort of language from students in the bathroom, a man angry about the mispronunciation of his name fantasizes about forcing Republicans into an uncomfortable position, and someone viewing a picture is disturbed by the eagerness of people to get in the shot after a lynching has occurred.  But most of all, Espada tries to evoke discomfort in the reader causing strong feelings in them.

Dracula Book Club Essay

In Victorian England, everyone was forced to repress any sexual ideas or feelings they had.  Woman were either considered good and clean, or were seductive.  Bram Stoker's novel, Dracula, expresses the two-dimensional view of Victorian society as a group of young adults quest to kill the vampire, Count Dracula.  Throughout the story, society's fear of sexuality is presented through the perversion of purity.

One example of the perversion of purity is shown through the contrast between what the society believed woman should be and what woman became when they became vampires.  Throughout the story, the woman are put off, in an effort to keep them decent and "good."  While the men are trying to figure out where Dracula is and how to get to him, Mina is left out.  The men tell her that, "You are too precious to us to have such risk. When we part tonight, you no more must question. We shall tell you all in good time. We are men and are able to bear, but you must be our star and our hope."  Women were expected to be proper while men had much freedom to do as they pleased.  On the contrary, when women became vampires they became voluptuous and seductive.  When Jonathan is in Count Dracula's castle, three women come to him, trying to seduce him.  In describing them, Jonathan states that, "All three had brilliant white teeth that shone like pearls against the ruby of their voluptuous lips. There was something about them that made me uneasy, some longing and at the same time some deadly fear. I felt in my heart a wicked, burning desire that they would kiss me with those red lips."  What is considered the most evil when they made men feel sexually attracted a s Jonathan does here.  Also, in his interaction with the three ladies, Jonathan has more sexual contact then he does in the entire novel with his wife, Mina.  Women in Victorian society were either virgins or married, otherwise they were impure.  When Dracula preys on women, he turns them into perverted counterparts to their former selves.

Also, all of the actions of vampires are perverted images of the purest most innocent actions, while the pure men are forced to twist impure actions for the greater good.  Dracula takes what are considered good and distorts them.  When Dracula is attacking Mina, he forces her into nursing blood from his chest.  Dracula's "right hand gripped her by the back of the neck, forcing her face down on his bosom. Her white nightdress was smeared with blood, and a thin stream trickled down the man’s bare chest which was shown by his torn-open dress."   Nursing is giving nutrients o the most innocent people, babies, so when Dracula twists the image of nursing to sucking blood from a chest he is attacking their ideas of goodness.  Too counter Dracula's actions and destroy the vampire in Lucy, her fiancee, Arthur Holmwood, drives the stake through her body, returning her to her original goodness.  The description of this action is very sexual and forceful giving the imagery of rape.  Arthur was, "driving deeper and deeper the mercy-bearing stake, whilst the blood from the pierced heart welled and spurted up around it. His face was set, and high duty seemed to shine through it."  When Dracula preys on the women he is looked upon as disgusting, but because Arthur believed he was attacking for the greater good, it was considered acceptable.  While Dracula perverts innocent ideas and twists them into his evil world, the protagonists take the imagery of perversion and warp it into a good action.

In, Dracula, Bram Stoker shows the two dimensional world of Victorian England and how there was pure and impure but no middle ground.  This story relates to the modern world because often, we try to categorize people as friendly and nice, or mean and jerks, while rarely one person is either one or the other.  Bram Stoker's community a very small view of what society could include.  In Dracula, both sides of good and evil are represented, but there is no acknowledgement of anywhere between the two.

Censorship or Unconfident Society?

  Dear Ms. Berner, Former Associate Justice of the Supreme Court Potter Stewart is quoted with saying, "Censorship reflects a society's lack of confidence in itself" and I strongly believe in this.  For centuries, religious, political and social leaders have taken advantage of their power and tried to control what books people read, what music they listen to and many other activities people find enjoyment in.  It has also become common for parents to ask the school to remove certain books from classroom and school libraries, believing they know what is best for every student in the school.  I believe that books should not be banned as students should be trusted with what they choose to read and teachers should be respected enough to be trusted with instruction.

Restricting what children can read can limit their views on the world.  Sherman Alexie explains in his article, "Why the Best Kids Books Are Written in Blood," how reading books about controversial topics won't damage kids.  The article states that how, "I have yet to receive a letter from a child somehow debilitated by the domestic violence, drug abuse, racism, poverty, sexuality, and murder contained in my book."  Overprotective parents need to realize that when limiting their children's view on the world, they are causing the kid to be naive and not know the real dangers of the world.  By reading books with dark themes, teens learn more about the real world and not the perfect world that they are told exist.  Also, by reading about darker themes, teens will understand them more and be able to help those in need, as explained in the article, "Reading literary fiction improves empathy, study finds," by Liz Bury.  The article states that, "reading literary fiction enhances the ability to detect and understand other people's emotions, a crucial skill in navigating complex social relationships."  By reading stories of situations, we as readers can learn how to handle or help someone else manage similar circumstances.  If someone reads a story of someone who cuts their arms, and then find out a friend self-injures, they will be better prepared to help them.  Not only does banning books limit someones view on the world, it can also prevent them from important social skills.

Another reason why banning books is unreasonable is that when banning books, a select group of parents, teachers or social leaders are deciding not just for their children but for all of the children that use a specific library while there are parents who encourage their kids to delve into darker subjects.  In the article,"Man from ministry bans Potter," Tania deLuzuriaga writes about the pastor of a catholic school who banned the immensely popular Harry Potter series from the school library.  The article states that  "Rev. Ron Barker, removed the books, declaring that the themes of witchcraft and sorcery were inappropriate."  Following the removal of the Harry Potter series, some parents showed their support while other expressed their frustration with the school.  I feel that in this situation, if parents feel that their children shouldn't be reading certain books, they have a right to prohibit what books their children read, but for the parents who disagree with the ban, their children have a right to read what they want to and should not have what one man deems inappropriate affect all of the students in the school.  It is unfair for the children who have the permission of their parents to read certain books to have that freedom taken away from them.  Also, the article, "Teen fiction plots are darker and starker," by William Porter, explains how there are many parents who want their children to read controversial and thought provoking topics.   The article states that, "At 17, Kristina Palmer of Arvada reads at a book-a-day pace. 'My parents always supported my love of reading and let me read whatever I could get my hands on,' she said."  Had her school library banned certain books that Kristina couldn't get her hands on, she might not have read the wide variety of books that she has and might not have been as empathetic as she is.  By having parents who allow her to read anything and everything, Kristina is able to be more empathetic and excepting.  By putting the power of censorship into one person's hands, they are able to control a whole community of children, making decisions for other parents.

Some may argue that some young teens may not be able to handle books with dark themes or that they may bring back trauma of rape victims or veterans.  Meghan Cox Gurdon writes in her slanted article, "Darkness Took Visible" about how she believes that youth fiction is too focused on dark topics.  She states that "Now, whether you care if adolescents spend their time immersed in ugliness probably depends on your philosophical outlook… It has to do with a child's happiness, moral development and tenderness of heart. Entertainment does not merely gratify taste, after all, but creates it."  Gudron believes that teens on a deeper level are disturbed by these books and get distorted views on the world because of reading dark books.  She implies that children can't be trusted to choose what they read because they gain an entertainment in unhappiness after reading dark books.  Another alternative to banning books while still protecting kids is explained in Jennifer Medina's article, "Warning: The Literary Canon Could Make Students Squirm," which is about the idea of "trigger warnings," or notices in books that something could be offensive or upsetting, and their newfound popularity in certain colleges.  The article states that in response to the call for "trigger warnings" some people believe that, "Trigger warnings, they say, suggest a certain fragility of mind that higher learning is meant to challenge, not embrace."  This also applies to banning books.  Academically, we should learn to learn from what is uncomfortable to us.  While I agree that for victims of sexual assault or war veterans, images or books containing rape or war could lead to post-traumatic stress disorder, I feel that bombarding any books containing violence or any controversial topic with trigger warnings is futile.  Both banning books and excessive trigger warnings are putting people in a position where they can avoid an uneasiness that many authors strive to achieve in their writing and teachers use to provoke thought.

Banning books prevents students from reaching their full academic potential.  Reading books with themes of darkness can help readers learn how to react in their own life when they encounter troubling situations.  Also, by banning books, all children, not just the ones with parents who are against controversial themes, are affected.  Finally, while many argue that books can damage teens, a level of discomfort can actually be helpful in academic discussions.  Banning books is a part of our society which represents the distrust of people to make decisions for themselves.

Works Cited

Gurdon, Meghan Cox. "Darkness Too Visible." Wsj.com. The Wall Street Journal, 4 June 2011. Web. 04 Dec. 2014.

B, Liz. "Reading Literary Fiction Improves Empathy, Study Finds." N.p., n.d. Web.

Bury, Liz. "Reading Literary Fiction Improves Empathy, Study Finds." Theguardian.com. The Guardian, 8 Oct. 2013. Web. 4 Dec. 2014.

DeLuzuriaga, Tania. "Man from Ministry Bans Potter." Boston.com. The Boston Globe, 25 Oct. 2007. Web. 04 Dec. 2014.

Medina, Jennifer. "Warning: The Literary Canon Could Make Students Squirm." Nytimes.com. The New York Times, 17 May 2014. Web. 04 Dec. 2014.

Porter, William. "Teen Fiction Plots Are Darker and Starker." Denverpost.com. The Denver Post, 7 May 2009. Web. 04 Dec. 2014.